ELISA ENGLISH's Blog 英語園地

教育部國語辭典

妄自菲薄

= 自卑過甚、自暴自棄, 過於自卑而不知自重

Translation:

1. Sell oneself short

2. Degrade oneself

3. Belittle oneself

Don’t sell yourself short.  Be all that you can be.

不要妄自菲薄, 做你所能

http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/sell+short

Don’t degrade yourself by cheating and telling lies.

不要貶低自我而欺騙說謊.

Never belittle yourself by lowering your standards.

不要妄自菲薄, 自貶身價而降低你的標準.

There is a difference between 妄自菲薄 & 低估.

妄自菲薄 indicates someone with extremely low self esteem (過於自卑而不知自重).

"Sell oneself short" would be a best description for it.

However, 低估 (估計得過低。含有輕視的意味 - 國語字典的解釋) does not necessarily state someone with extremely low self esteem.  I can underestimate myself but I don't necessarily 妄自菲薄.

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